Poverty In Ghana Research Articles

Cities and rural transformation: A spatial analysis of rural livelihoods in Ghana

Abstract Recent growth in many African countries has been accompanied by rapid urbanization, which could have major impacts on rural livelihoods. This paper examines patterns of rural livelihoods and poverty in Ghana based on the proximity of rural areas to cities of different sizes. The paper finds that many rural households in the areas close to cities have shifted their primary employment from agriculture to nonagriculture, especially in the more urbanized South. This trend strengthens over time. This appears to take place in contrast to the traditional model of rural livelihood diversification, with some family members working in agriculture and some in nonagriculture. Although cities have created market demand for agriculture, proximity to cities does not seem to influence agricultural intensification in terms of modern input use, possibly due to agricultural markets being relatively integrated in Ghana. Proximity to cities has implications for rural households being less poor and becoming middle class even after controlling for being a nonfarm household in rural areas.

Assessing the determinants and drivers of multidimensional energy poverty in Ghana

Improving household access and use of clean energy has been central to global development efforts in recent years. The negative effects of energy poverty on health, climate, livelihoods and economy has led to increased investments towards achieving universal access to clean energy. However, significant deprivations in clean energy remains, especially in developing countries. Energy poverty may involve simultaneous deprivations on availability and affordability of clean energy. Using repeated cross-sectional data, this paper assesses the extent and determinants of multidimensional energy poverty in Ghana between 2008 and 2014. The paper finds that though the level of multidimensional energy poverty reduced in Ghana between 2008 and 2014, the incidence and intensity of multidimensional energy poverty remains high. Further, we find substantial subgroup differences in multidimensional energy poverty. The results reveal significant relationships between household characteristics and the multidimensional energy poverty status of households. The reductions in multidimensional energy poverty were driven by the coefficient effects attributable to structural and policy changes over the period. To facilitate universal access to clean energy and reduce the degree of multidimensional energy poverty, there is the need to intensify the LPG promotion campaign and adopt strategies that target left-behind and underserved groups.

Relative Effects of Income and Consumption Poverty on Time Poverty in Ghana

One strand of the literature suggests that higher income individuals are less susceptible to time poverty because they can afford to hire others to assist them with household duties, while another strand postulates a potential trade-off between income poverty and time poverty. This study examined the relationship between time poverty and income/consumption poverty among households in Ghana, using data from three Ghana Living Standard Surveys. The descriptive analysis showed that while time poverty has declined since the 1998/1999 survey period, it is still more prevalent among women, urban residents, those with low levels of education and the non-poor. The regression estimates confirm the trade-off hypothesis, but the subsample analysis across gender and periods of the survey reveals some element of the counter-argument to the trade-off hypothesis among females. The Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations should collaborate with other allied bodies such as the Ghana Employers Association and trade unions to design labour market policies that will create flexible work conditions for especially time-poor women. Such policies should prioritize early childhood education in public schools, promote the provision of onsite day care services by employers, and the incentive to use public transport to ease time-consuming car travel in congested cities.

Energy poverty in Ghana: Any progress so far?

This paper investigates the dynamics of energy poverty in Ghana using two nationwide cross-sectional datasets (Ghana Living Standards Surveys Round 5 and Round 6). Employing the Multidimensional Energy Poverty Index (MEPI) as a measure of energy poverty, this paper estimates that the share of energy poor people decreased from 88.4% in 2005/2006 to 82.5% in 2012/2013. The results indicate that although there has been a significant decline in the overall energy poverty in Ghana during the study periods, the incidence of energy poverty remains high. Moreover, the study findings show a large gap between urban and rural energy poverty over the two periods; rural people are almost twice as energy poor as urban people. These findings suggest the need for the incorporation of energy poverty reduction strategies into income poverty reduction strategies to help improve not only access to modern energy but also in terms of affordability.

School feeding as a social protection programme or a political largesse: a review

PurposeIn an attempt to tackle the incidence of poverty and social exclusion in the Ghanaian society, a number of social protection programmes including the school feeding programme is introduced. The programme is designed to cater for the extreme poor and as well encourage enrolment and attendance in the country. The purpose of this paper is to assess the intention or objective for which the programme is initiated and the realities on the ground. It looks at whether the current beneficiaries are the extreme poor described in the policy document.Design/methodology/approachThe study explored the incidence of poverty in Ghana using the Ghana Living Standard Survey (GLSS6) and the Ghana School Feeding Annual Operation Plan (GSFAOP) with the help of the school feeding policy document to draw on actual beneficiaries and potential beneficiaries. The differences between percentages of poverty (2012/2013) and feeding schools was computed using GLSS6 and GSFAOP. The study also conducted a number of open-ended interviews with some stakeholders to validate the nature of recruitment of beneficiary schools.FindingsThe study concluded that there is a mismatch of potential beneficiaries and current beneficiaries using the referred data sources. It was found out that majority of beneficiary schools are located within areas of lesser incidence of poverty. This could be attributed to political interference in view of testimonies from respondents and the computerisation of GLSS6 and GSFAOP. The study therefore proposed that the allocation of feeding schools should be done to reflect the percentage of poverty situation in each region. This could be achieved when the district education office takes control. It will help minimise the level of politicisation and as well improve efficiency.Originality/valueThe study therefore highlighted the relevance of the school feeding programme and the inverse relationship it has with political interference. It again demonstrates the need to restructure the operations of the programme to meet the objective for which it was established.

Spatial Cumulative Probit Model: An Application to Poverty Classification and Mapping

Previous studies on household poverty classification have commonly dichotomized the dependent variable into non-poor or poor, and used binary models. This way, the most extreme categories of poverty, which are usually the main targets of interventions, are not identified. Moreover, expenditure data used to describe poverty is typically collected at several locations over large geographical domains. Local disturbances introduce spatial correlation, implying that global parameters (obtained via independence assumptions of standard statistical methods) cannot adequately describe site-specific conditions of the data. The objective, therefore, is to describe an appropriate method for ordered categorical data collected at geo-referenced locations over large geographical space. To achieve this, a model named Spatial Cumulative Probit Model (SCPM) was proposed. This model classified household poverty in an ordinal spatial framework. Bayesian inference was performed on data sampled by Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithms. A test of model adequacy show that the SCPM is unbiased and attains a lower misclassification rate of 14.43% than the simple Cumulative Probit (CP) model with misclassification rate of 16.5% that ignores spatial dependence in the data. Overall, ‘savannah ecological zone’, ‘polygamous marriage’ and ‘rural location’ were the most powerful predictors of extreme poverty in Ghana. The prediction map, created by this study, identified positive correlation with respect to ‘poor’ and ‘extremely poor’ categories. Results of the model in this study can be considered a category and site-specific report that identifies all levels and sites of poverty for easy targeting, thus, avoiding the blanket approach that prefers the one-fits-it-all solution to the problem of poverty. Analysis was based on the Ghana Living Standards Survey (GLSS 6) dataset.

Poverty Reduction in Ghana: The Role of Farm and Non-Farm Enterprises

Ghana has experienced a general decline in the levels of poverty. Despite this drop, there are patches of poverty in both rural and urban with the rural setting being the worst affected. This situation emerged possibly because the kind of livelihood strategies adopted did not ensure a sustainable and complete reduction in the poverty levels across the entire country. On that account, this study examined how farm and non-farm livelihoods promote poverty reduction in Ghana. Data were from Ghana Statistical Service database. Analysis of data involved one-sample t-tests and independent sample t-tests. The study finds that, significant differences exist between rural and urban residents‟ income earnings from farm activities, non-farm enterprises and the upper poverty line. The study concludes that both farm and non-farm activities are crucial to ending poverty in Ghana. It is recommended that agriculture and non-farm enterprises be developed in both rural and urban settings respectively.

Fighting Urban Poverty in Ghana: the Role of Non-governmental Organizations

The study examined the activities of urban non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in fighting poverty in Kumasi, Ghana. Specifically, the study sought answers to three key questions relating to the role of NGOs in urban poverty reduction. Four NGOs in the city of Kumasi were selected for study. A sample size of 105 respondents drawn from beneficiaries of the NGOs, officers of the NGOs, and the local government was used. The research adopted the cross-sectional study design and the mixed method approach in the collection, processing, and analysis of the data. Results from the study showed that urban NGOs provide social intervention and livelihood empowerment programs to the extremely poor who were mostly migrants to the city. Women and the youth were the main beneficiaries of the poverty reduction programs of the NGOs. However, the efforts of the NGOs in reducing poverty were found to be of short term rather than long term. Three reasons accounted for this—firstly, targeted beneficiaries were not involved in the choice, design, and implementation of the poverty reduction programs. Secondly, the NGOs were faced with endogenous challenges that limited the extent of their impact in touching the lives of the poor. Finally, there was a weak collaboration between the NGOs and the government in the fight against poverty. Recommendations were made to enhance the activities of the NGOs in their endeavors.

Time Series Analysis for Prediction of Meteorological Data from Wa, Upper West Region of Ghana

The majority of the workforce in Wa, the capital of Upper West Region of Ghana depends on agricultural for their survival and are living in a sincere poverty, struggling with life and are often forced to migrate to the southern part of Ghana where there is a bi-modal rainy season, in search of greener pastures as a results of climate change, and its resulting losses in productivity. The study analyzed daily weather observations of mean air temperature and daily rainfall recorded over the period 1990 to 2009. The future meteorological data of Wa, Upper West Region in Ghana are forecasted for the relevant authority and political decision-makers to implement projects and measurements to minimize effects of the climate change in Upper West Region. Time series analysis was used to analyze the meteorological data obtained. Microsoft Excel was used to draw graphs. The study recorded an increase in annual mean temperature of 0.4°C in the last decade (1990-2009) with an annual average rainfall of 4.59 mm per decade. The projections over the next two decades indicate that the annual monthly mean temperature will increase by approximately 1°C per decade with the annual average rainfall of 9.19 mm in the first decade (2010-2029). The results demonstrate an ample evidence of heating and floods as natural disasters that may occur in the Upper West Region of Ghana and this can lead to a great loss of harvest where peasant farmers may be more affected. This is a long way could lead further to the increment of poverty in Ghana. The study, therefore, concludes that the inhabitants of Upper West Region and all people in Ghana should be aware of the climate change so that the population as a whole could do their best to mitigate the effects.

“The Reality from the Myth”: The poor as main agents of forest degradation: Lessons from Ashanti Region, Ghana

Abstract The prevailing literature on poverty-environment links mostly presents a rather deterministic view of the nexus between poverty and the environment, revolving around the negative impact of the poor on the environment. Specifically, in Ghana, empirical evidence on the prevalence of forest degradation is sparse because the requisite data are often difficult to obtain. Using a qualitative approach, data collected through in-depth interviews with 45 randomly selected participants and 5 purposively selected key informants (Traditional Authorities) and using a thematic analysis, the poverty-environment, specifically the forest degradation nexus was verified. This cross-sectional study leads the authors to posit that poverty has a minimal negative effect on major forest degradation in Ghana. The study found that the poor were rather conscious, and future-oriented with regard to the environment, specifically forests owing to how their livelihoods and survival are directly linked to their immediate environment. The results suggest that the poverty-environment nexus could be country, or context-specific and varies between geographical and historical contexts. By implication, the seemingly universal assertion that the poor are those who cause major deforestation in communities could be problematic. Henceforth, the study maintains that it would be a fallacy to make generalisations that poverty is the main cause of major forest degradation, since the link between poverty and the environment is very context-specific. We argued on the premise that reduction of poverty in Ghana may not lead to the reduction of forest degradation. Joint implementation of holistic poverty-environment strategies that incorporate both the poor and the rich should be adopted to curb the wanton forest degradation in Ghana.

Utilization of shea fruit to enhance food security and reduce poverty in Ghana

The shea tree grows extensively in the northern part of Ghana, which is known to be one of the poorest areas in the country. To help reduce poverty and enhance food security in this area, attempts were made to add value to shea fruit pulp and shea butter. Jam and wine were developed and produced from shea fruit pulp and these were analyzed for their physico-chemical constituents. Shea butter-based body lotion, pomade and soaps were developed and assessed for their quality and stability. Three of the products were produced on a pilot-scale to test the demand on the local market and analyze their economic viability. Fresh shea fruit pulp contained 226.25 ± 1.56 mg/100 g, 0.96 ± 0.06%, 1.09 ± 0.01% and 74.60 ± 4.22 mg/g phenols, fat, protein and sugar respectively. Jam and wine produced from the pulp, also found to contain appreciable amounts of protein, were also rich in minerals. Body lotion, pomade and soaps developed from shea butter were found to be stable and their qualities conformed to specifications of cosmetics in Ghana. Pilot-scale production of shea butter-based pomade, soft and liquid soaps showed that the quality of the products was accepted by consumers and they had the potential for commercial production.

The Effects of Poverty Reduction Strategies on Artisanal Fishing in Ghana: The Case of Keta Municipality

This paper assesses the level of poverty in Ghana after three decades of successive implementation of numerous poverty reduction strategies including Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) by various governments of Ghana. The Keta municipality in the Volta region, where artisanal fishing thrives, was chosen as a representative sample of the whole country. The authors identified eleven artisanal fishing communities in the selected area using systematic sampling. Data were collected on household consumption patterns. This process was used to determine the profile of poverty using the latest upper poverty line of Ghana and the Greer and Thorbecke (1984) poverty formula. Research findings show that the various poverty alleviation methods implemented over three decades by the Government of Ghana, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) significantly failed as they have not produced any meaningful effect on poverty reduction in the sample area. Finally, this paper offers further suggestions regarding how this poverty gap may be bridged using alternative methods.

Pro-Poor Decentralization in Ghana: Exploring the Facilitators and the Limitations

While significant research exists on why decentralization should result in poverty reduction, how this actually happens and the limitations have received little empirical research attention. Such empirical evidence is important due to the widespread adoption of decentralization in many developing and transition countries, and the consequent expectation that decentralization should be pro-poor. With empirical evidence from ten selected districts in Ghana, this article provides fresh insights into the facilitators and the limitations of pro-poor decentralization. The evidence suggests that although decentralization holds many prospects for poverty reduction, there are major limitations on how this can happen. The article establishes that while participation and representation, transparency, and accountability remain important facilitating factors, the capacity of district assemblies, apathy of citizens, resource constraints, political interference, and the absence of collaborating nonstate actors, among other factors, have limited the effectiveness of decentralization in reducing poverty in Ghana. The overarching limitation is that decentralization, which is often designed largely with political goals, is expected to be pro-poor, perhaps, only as an afterthought.

Fiscal Incidence in Ghana.

We use methods developed by the Commitment to Equity Institute to assess the effects of government taxation, social spending and indirect subsidies on poverty and inequality in Ghana. We also simulate several policy reforms to assess their distributional consequences. Results show that, although the country has some very progressive taxes and well‐targeted expenditures, the extent of fiscal redistribution is small, but about what one would expect given Ghana's income level and relatively low initial inequality. Results for poverty reduction are less encouraging: were it not for the in‐kind benefits from health and education spending, the overall effect of government spending and taxation would actually increase poverty in Ghana. Eliminating energy subsidies and at the same time reallocating part of the savings to well‐targeted transfer programs could lower the fiscal deficit while reducing inequality and protecting the poor.

Can health insurance protect against out-of-pocket and catastrophic expenditures and also support poverty reduction? Evidence from Ghana's National Health Insurance Scheme.

BackgroundGhana since 2004, begun implementation of a National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) to minimize financial barriers to health care at point of use of service. Usually health insurance is expected to offer financial protection to households. This study aims to analyze the effect health insurance on household out-of-pocket expenditure (OOPE), catastrophic expenditure (CE) and poverty.MethodsWe conducted two repeated household surveys in two regions of Ghana in 2009 and 2011. We first analyzed the effect of OOPE on poverty by estimating poverty headcount before and after OOPE were incurred. We also employed probit models and use of instrumental variables to analyze the effect of health insurance on OOPE, CE and poverty.ResultsOur findings showed that between 7–18 % of insured households incurred CE as a result of OOPE whereas this was between 29–36 % for uninsured households. In addition, between 3–5 % of both insured and uninsured households fell into poverty due to OOPE. Our regression analyses revealed that health insurance enrolment reduced OOPE by 86 % and protected households against CE and poverty by 3.0 % and 7.5 % respectively.ConclusionThis study provides evidence that high OOPE leads to CE and poverty in Ghana but enrolment into the NHIS reduces OOPE, provides financial protection against CE and reduces poverty. These findings support the pro-poor policy objective of Ghana’s National Health Insurance Scheme and holds relevance to other low and middle income countries implementing or aiming to implement insurance schemes.

Relative Impact of Various Taxes on Poverty in Ghana

Poverty and inequality are tortuous manifestation based on a grid of interconnecting social, demographic, economic and political elements which are source of worry to society. Understanding their nature and effect is essential in functioning policies to address them. Taxation which is one of the sources governments mobilize revenue to address issues affecting the poor and society also have effect on poverty and inequality. This study investigates the effect of Ghana’s tax policies on poverty. The study employed the Johansen cointegration estimation techniques using annual time series data from the period 1984 to 2013. The results show that increase in indirect tax policies worsen poverty level in Ghana. However, direct tax policies and remittances have mitigating effect on poverty. Considering the agrarian structure of the economy, reducing export taxes will promote activities in the export subsector. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2016.v7n3p150

The ‘Third Sector’ and Poverty Reduction in Developing Societies

Rural poverty in Ghana is relatively high. Adopting interpretivist approach, this study aimed at assessing the role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in rural poverty reduction using the experience of the Hunger Project (THP) in selected rural communities in Ghana. Purposive and cluster sampling techniques were used to select 37 respondents, drawn from five different ‘epicentres’ who have benefitted from THP. The study found out that THP has helped to reduce poverty levels of rural people in the Asante Akyem South District through their programmes that train, empower and resource beneficiaries. Beneficiaries have become self-reliant, socially responsible and active, economically empowered who continue to impact their households and beyond; this has cascading effect on further rural poverty reduction. The study also identifies few challenges that affect THP’s programmes. The study concludes that THP’s ‘four-phase epicentric approach’ to community development enables self-reliance, people’s involvement and holds great promise for holistic poverty eradication effort in the district. The poverty eradication component of ‘Millennium Development Goal (MDG) Beyond 2015’ makes the role of the ‘third sector’ quintessential; policy suggestions from the study serve as an input for NGOs’ decision-making processes in an attempt to scale up their poverty reduction activities in rural communities.

Transient rural livelihoods and poverty in Ghana

Although agriculture remains the main economic livelihood activity for the majority of rural households in sub-Saharan Africa it has also been observed that livelihood diversity is the norm. Using household panel data from Ghana this article argues that aside from farming many rural economic livelihood options are transient because of a large gap between livelihood activity and professional vocation development. Further, the household welfare effect of being livelihood diversity transient is examined under the premise that of utmost relevance is the welfare implication of such behaviour. Evidence suggests that a substantial proportion (55%) of households exhibit considerable instability in livelihood diversity behaviour. More importantly, being livelihood diversity transient imposes statistically significant albeit economically marginal household welfare cost. The findings also reveal that spatial location of household, demographics factors, education, and consumer–producer price differentials were the most important determinants of rural household welfare. The key message from the findings is the need to develop entrepreneurial skills of rural households to acquire gainful employment opportunities, which leads to more stable livelihood diversity behaviour and poverty reduction.

Coping with Poverty in Ghana: An Analysis of Livelihood Strategies of Persons Living with HIV and AIDS in Cape Coast and Accra, Ghana

Coping with Poverty in Ghana: An Analysis of Livelihood Strategies of Persons Living with HIV and AIDS in Cape Coast and Accra, Ghana

Social Construction of Poverty in Ghana: A Structural Sociological Analysis

Poverty is a social construct largely based on the culture of poverty paradigm where the poor are blamed for their plight. Poverty constructed this way diverts attention from the social forces responsible for it. In order to thoroughly understand poverty in Ghana, therefore, we need to engage in the sociological imagination to see if poverty is a personal problem or a public issue. This paper aims to disprove the culture of poverty paradigm, which defines poverty as a personal problem, and redirect the attention to the macro social structure as the premise upon which poverty resides, thus making it an important public issue.The general objective of the paper is to use the macro sociological perspectives - functionalist, conflict, feminist, and postmodernist - to make a cogent case against the culture of poverty paradigm as basis for the social construction of poverty. Specifically, the paper identifies the social groups more susceptible to experience poverty in Ghana, the macro social forces responsible for their susceptibility, and propose feasible specific policy strategies to address poverty and the social pathologies tied to it.